BiclZone.com

Liam Neeson is still a box office champion. After The A-Team, Unknown and Taken all opened at number one, his The Grey has done so as well, landing in first place at the weekend box office. The film banked $ 20 million in its first week of release (check out our The Grey review and exclusive Neeson video interview).

Last week’s number one flick, Underworld Awakening, slipped to second. The return of Kate Beckinsale as Selene added another $ 12.5 million to its total of $ 45.1 million. The second of three new entries at the movies this past weekend, One for the Money, had to settle for a third place finish. Katherine Heigl’s latest earned $ 11.8 million. Does that guarantee another chapter in the Stephanie Plum literary saga that has 18 books? Time will tell.

Fourth place belongs to Red Tails, George Lucas’ tale of the Tuskegee airmen and their heroic efforts during World War II. The film sold $ 10.4 million in its second week of release.

Rounding out the top five of box office winners was the third new film of the weekend, Man on a Ledge. The Sam Worthington starring flick disappointed in its first week of release, earning only $ 8.3 million.

What was interesting to note in this first box office weekend after the Oscar nominations were announced is the charge up the charts that Best Picture nominees Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close ($ 7.1 million) and The Descendants ($ 6.6 million) did by finishing at sixth and seventh, respectively.
Box office top 10:
1. The Grey, $ 20 million
2. Underworld: Awakening, $ 12.5 million
3. One for the Money, $ 11.8 million
4. Red Tails, $ 10.4 million
5. Man on a Ledge, $ 8.3 million
6. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, $ 7.1 million
7. The Descendants, $ 6.6 million
8. Contraband, $ 6.5 million
9. Beauty and the Beast, $ 5.3 million
10. Haywire, $ 4 million